Adolescence
by Zamurai
Summary: -Based on YHCT- Sasuke and Sakura are together. They, Naruto, Neji, Hinata, and Shino are assigned a long, dangerous mission together. So what if Neji starts crushing on Sakura? Meet a very angry and possessive Uchiha. -SasuSaku-NejiSaku-GaaSaku -NaruHina
1. Ramen, Ramen, A New Mission?

**A/N: Yes...I re-edited...just a little bit. Once again, this story goes along with 'Young Hormone-Crazy Teenagers'. Though, you don't need to read it to understand this. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto - 17. Neji - 18. Kakashi - Guess.**

**Adolescence  
****By: EvilSithGirl**

**Chapter 1: Ramen, Ramen…A New Mission?!**

The sun shone down brightly on the Hidden Village of the Leaf. This was a perfect day, the temperature wasn't too hot and the breeze was just right. On the old team seven meeting bridge, three team-mates quietly waited for a certain late individual.

Uchiha Sasuke stood still, eyes closed and arms crossed, back leaning against the railing. Next to him, Haruno Sakura had her arms on top of the railing, absentmindedly looking down at the water below. Sasuke opened an eye and stared at her from the corner of it. Sakura, feeling his gaze, turned to him and smiled. His eyes softened and he moved closer, wrapping his arms around her small waist. It's been two weeks since he had confessed his feelings to her in Sand, and they've been together since then. He smirked, remembering what had happened on the couch in that hotel room. Ah…good times.

A loud snore interrupted their moment and they turned to look across the bridge. Across from the two, the last member of their famously powerful team, was Uzumaki Naruto, sitting in straddle position with his head against the railing, dozing off. Their ex-sensei was late as usual, but they have so far only waited for forty-two minutes and eighteen seconds, not very long compared to all the other times.

A sudden loud 'poof' was heard. Sasuke and Sakura turned once again, to see their former sensei walk over to the sleeping Naruto. He poked his arm. Nothing. He poked him again, and again...and again. He then jabbed him continuously, like poking jello. Naruto didn't budge at all. So…Sasuke joined in waking him.

"Wake up, dobe. Kakashi's here."

He kicked the blonde's stomach, arms crossed once again. Naruto caught the foot, still asleep, muttered something inaudible, and hugged the foot like a teddy bear.

"What the hell…? Let go, you baka! Dammit!"

Sasuke muttered some curses while trying, violently, to free his poor foot. But Naruto, who was surprisingly stronger in his sleep, just wouldn't let go. Sakura and Kakashi just held back their laughter, doing nothing to help. It was a quite a sight to see. A few snorts and giggles escaped them, resulting in a scary glare from the Uchiha.

"Wake. Him. Up." he growled.

"Wait, don't move!"

"Wha--"

Sakura took out a camera. Sasuke's glare increased tenfold.

"Sakura! Don't you dare!"

"Hehe…smile!"

The camera flashed. On its digital screen, a sleeping Naruto could be seen hugging the foot of a very pissed off Uchiha with deadly flaming red eyes. And no, the red eyes weren't caused by the camera…Quite a sight to see indeed.

"Could I have a copy?" Kakashi had an evil glint in his visible eye. Sakura just snapped her hand back, smacking Kakashi with the back of it. Naruto muttered something else and reached higher so he hugged Sasuke's ankle as well.

"GAH! LET GO OF MY FOOT, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! KUSO! KUSO! KUSO!" He brutally shook his foot, but the stubborn sleeping blonde just held on tighter. Kakashi made a 'tsk tsk' sound as Sakura leaned down to Naruto's ear.

"Naruto…RAMEN!"

At this, Naruto jerked up and shook his head vigorously.

"Ramen? Ramen? Ramen! Where is the ram---EYAAAAHHH!"

He was suddenly thrown up in the air by a certain foot he was still holding, unfortunately landeding back down on the railing on one foot. He flailed his arms dynamically to keep his balance from falling off into the water. Just as he regained his balance, Sasuke's famous foot came into contact with his bum and pushed him headfirst into the waters below.

"What d'you do that for you stupid teme?" The now soaked Naruto floated to the surface.

"Hn. You deserved it dobe."

"I didn't do anything, teme!"

"Yes you did, dobe."

"No I didn't, and stop calling me dobe, teme!"

"Yes you did, and stop calling me teme, dobe."

The dobe and teme glared the most horrifying glares they could muster, thus turning the insult contest into a glaring one. A vein was twitching on Sakura's trademark-large forehead as she clenched her fists, jaws, and eyes.

All this bickering really was giving her a headache. Had they forgotten about getting their mission details from Kakashi? She looked over at Kakashi and sighed as she saw him reading his perverted book. She sighed again as she looked back at the two glaring children-in-teenage-forms. Sasuke was on the bridge and Naruto was up on the railing like he was a frog or something.

Sasuke put a finger on Naruto's forehead and pushed, causing the blue-eyed blonde to fall back into the water with a loud curse. Sakura decided she had had enough. She stomped over to an unsuspecting Sasuke and used all her might to push-punch him into the water.

Naruto was just getting back up. His eyes widened immensely and his mouth slightly gaped in fear as he saw the Uchiha fly down…about to drop and land...ON HIM! SPLASH!

And he did land on him. Pretty hard too.

"Ahhh! Get off me, bastard!"

Sasuke punched him as he got up and glared at Sakura.

"Sakura! What the--"

"Oh be quiet! Making fun of Naruto just makes you a hypocrite! BOTH of you guys act like immature five-year-olds! It's really annoying!"

Sakura was clearly pissed, while Kakashi just watched from the sidelines, no longer reading his book. He was obviously enjoying this.

"Haha! She told you off Sas-ke-teme!"

"Whatever…"

Sasuke climbed back onto the bridge. Naruto followed suit, but as he was stepping over the railing, he was met with another push from the other 'immature brat'.

"Dammit! Damn you bastard!"

Sasuke smirked as Naruto fell down for the fourthtime that morning, third being when he landed on him. He quit his victorious smirking as Sakura gave him a glare that matched his own.

'_So that's what my glare looks like? Scary. Cool.'_

Naruto finally landed on the bridge and shut his about-to-open mouth as Sakura also send him a warning glare. Kakashi walked up to them as he cleared his throat.

"So…now that you're all done with your little entertainment…you guys have a mission."

Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up. Kakashi said 'you guys'…meaning their whole Anbu team…it had to be a hard and dangerous mission! Yay!

"Before you ask Naruto, yes, it's a tough mission. In fact, the Hyuuga prodigy is coming with you, along with Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino."

Sasuke was not happy. Why? Because he was mad of course!

'_Damn Hyuuga. I hate this already...' _

Sakura, on the other hand, was her normal cheery self.

'_Cool, Hinata-chan's coming! I'll have some female company."_

And Naruto? Well…

'_Great. Our team gets a creepy bug-freak and another stupid teme…Hinata-chan's nice…Hmm…I'm really hungry! I wonder if I'll have time to get some ramen…'_

"Ahem." Kakashi cleared his throat again.

"Anyways, you're going to have to travel far from Konoha for this mission. Expect to do a lot of spying and be prepared to fight for your life."

That got Naruto happy.

"What are we going to be fighting? Other ninja? Sumos? Demons? Bears? Evil ponies that will stop at nothing to bring destruction to this world?"

They all looked at him. Weirdly.

"What? It could happen..."

"Um...no. I'll tell you all together with the others. We will all meet here on this bridge once again at sunset. Ok then, see ya!"

Kakashi disappeared in another 'poof' of smoke. Naruto was jumping up and down from excitement. Sasuke looked at him with his emo-look. Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Stop jumping like that or you'll piss yourself, dobe."

For once Naruto ignored him and turned to Sakura.

"What do you think the mission's about Sakura-chan?"

"I don't know Naruto. We'll just have to wait until sunset."

"Ahhh…I can't wait that long! What are we supposed to do until then?"

"I'm gonna go train. You should too." Sasuke started to walk towards the small clearing in the forest where they usually trained.

"Nah…I think I'll go eat some ramen. Wanna come Sakura-chan?"

"Sure. Hey Sasuke-kun! We're going to go to Ichiraku! Wanna come?" Sakura ran to catch up with the said person as Naruto followed behind.

"No. I'm going to train."

"Aw…please! Come on!" Sakura gave him her puppy-dog pout. He tried to resist but alas, even the Uchiha prodigy couldn't resist Sakura's cute pouting face and large innocent eyes. Then Naruto's face showed up next to her, trying and failing miserably to look cute. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. He punched Naruto in the face and walked away.

"Fine. Let's just go..."

------

At Ichiraku, Sasuke and Sakura watched with expressions of revulsion and disbelief as Naruto ate his fifth bowl of ramen. Sakura was the disbelieving one.

"It's still amazing just how much ramen he can take in…"

"Tch. More like nauseating.

"I heard that, teme!"

"Good. I wanted you to hear it."

"You're lucky there's ramen here so I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"Dobe. You couldn't hurt me even if there wasn't any ramen."

"Grrr…!"

Sakura decided to step in before things got too out of hand.

"Stop this you guys. Naruto, finish your ramen and stop bickering."

"But he started it!"

"Who cares? Just ignore him!"

Naruto 'hmphed' and went back to his precious ramen while muttering something along the lines of 'stupid tomato-loving bastard!'

Sasuke glared at him, growling.

"You say something, dobe?"

Naruto gulped and laughed nervously, remembering the last time he dissed tomatoes.

"Ah...no! I didn't say anything!"

He quickly began to devour his ramen in an inhumane speed. His two teammates looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression, then looked at each other and nodded. They got up and walked away, leaving him to consume his ramen alone.

It took a while for Naruto to notice. He was on his sixthth bowl when he noted that his friends had left him. At first, he didn't really mind. But he soon remembered his forgotten wallet was left at home. That's when he started to panic. Someone passing by noticed him and blushed as she summoned her courage to talk to him.

"Na-na-naru-Naruto-k-kun? A-are y-you a-all-r-right?"

Naruto's head snapped up to the new voice. The shy Hyuuga Hinata was standing in front of him with a worried look and her usual blush.

"Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?"

"Oh…I-I…w-was j-j-j-just p-pa-passing by…but…um…wha-what's wr-wrong?"

The blonde sweatdropped at her stuttering , but answered anyways.

"I forgot my wallet at home, and my friends abandoned me! I can't pay for all this ramen!"

"Oh…w-well…um…I-I-I c-c-could…um…ah…p-pay for y-you…"

Naruto's face brightened and he grinned his huge trademark grin.

"Thank you! I'll pay you back! Promise!"

"I-It's n-no pro-problem n-na-Naruto-k--!"

She was cut off by the happy Naruto's grateful hug. She turned tomato-red and immediately fainted. When Naruto let go, she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Hinata-chan? Wake up! Hinata-cchhyyyannnn!!"

No movement. He sighed.

"Great. Could this day _be_ any suckier?"

He picked Hinata up on his back and quickly ran away, hoping to god the owner of Ichiraku didn't notice him not paying. Which is most likely not going to happen considering the vast amount he consumed. And the fact that he heard an angry 'NAAAARRUUUUUTTTTOOOO!!!' as he was gaining distance. But hey, a guy can hope, can't he?

So he went back to the bridge and gently laid the unconscious Hyuuga Heiress down. Alarmingly, all the hairs on his nape stood up, as he sensed a dangerous aura behind him. He turned around...to face a pale figure with glowing white eyes.

'_Kuso.'_

------

**A/N: SasuSaku action next chapter. Sorry if it's kinda boring but I didn't feel like making this one as random. Oh, and there's a pic link of Sasuke and Sakura from this story on my profile, if anyone wants to see. Review plz! It brings joy to the world!**


	2. Encounter With A Hyuuga

**A/N: To see a ****pic**** of ****how Sasuke and Sakura look****, go to my profile and click on the link . **

_**Previously on Adolescence:**_

_So he went back to the bridge and gently laid the unconscious Hyuuga Heiress down. Alarmingly, all the hairs on his nape stood up, as he sensed a dangerous aura behind him. He turned around...to face a pale figure with glowing white eyes._

_'Kuso.'_

**Chapter 2: Encounter with a Hyuuga**

Naruto scowled at the sight of the Hyuuga prodigy, but it was replaced with a nervous gulp. Hyuuga Neji was giving Naruto a 'you-have-five-seconds-to-explain-before-I-beat-you-to-a-bloody-pulp' look.

"W-what do you w-want, Hyuuga-b-ba-bastard?" That didn't come out as brave as it should have…

Neji glared harder at the now doomed blonde, then looked down to the unconscious form of his little cousin lying on the bridge. Naruto looked over his shoulder to Hinata's limp form, sweat-dropped and he looked back at her _way_ too overprotective cousin. He scratched the back of his neck.

"I didn't do anything to Hinata-chan, I swear! She said she would pay for my ramen so I hugged her and she just fainted."

Wrong answer. Neji's freaky--yet somehow cool--white eyes were even scarier when they were burning with a killing intent. He cracked his knuckles and ever so slowly took a step forward, while Naruto once again gulped and took a step back.

-------

There was a wide-open yet serene clearing in Konohagakure no Sato that was normally used for meditative-training purposes. Its grass was a vibrant green and it was filled with varieties of field flowers and scattered with apple blossom trees. No one was training today, but two former students of the Copy Ninja could be found lying together in that clearing, under the shade of an apple-blossom tree. Above them, wisps of clouds moved throughout the clear azure sky in a snail-like fashion.

Sakura gazed up at the mesmerizing blue, supporting her head on her partner's outstretched arm and resting the back of her own hand on his warm chest.

Remembering her blonde friend, she sighed and turned her head to face Sasuke, who had his eyes closed.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have left Naruto alone. He probably forgot his wallet again."

"Did you want to see that dobe shove all that ramen down his throat?"

"No…"

"Didn't think so."

She turned back to look at the clouds and sighed. Her now boyfriend turned to her and just kept on staring. After a few minutes of his staring, he looked back up at the sky and spoke.

"What d'you do while I was gone?"

Taken by surprise with the random question, she faced him and intelligently muttered, "Wha?"

"While I was gone, what were you doing?"

The pink-haired Anbu wondered why he would ask that but answered anyways.

"Uh…nothing much. Just trained hard to get stronger...and bring you back."

Sasuke didn't seem satisfied with her answer. Sakura sat up and looked down at him with an inquisitive stare.

"What's up with you?"

He averted his eyes to the sky and spoke in a casual tone.

"What else d'you do?" He ignored her inquiry.

"Well, I worked in the hospital a lot…why're you asking?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering."

Sakura lied back down unsure, only to sit up again at the Uchiha's next question.

"Were…you…seeing anyone?"

Her stunned expression soon changed to a sly one. Sasuke mentally cursed himself for asking that.

"So…_that's_ what you wanted to know. Why? Is the all-mighty Uchiha jealous?" She snickered at her newfound teasing subject, who just glared back.

"No. Now answer."

She sighed exasperatedly.

"You're no fun. Fine. A lot of guys asked me out, but no. I didn't go out with anyone."

Sasuke smirked smugly, turning to her with an arrogant look.

"Waiting for me, hn?"

That got her annoyed.

"Don't you go and get smug Uchiha! I was just too busy to-----mmph!"

She was cut off when he abruptly raised his head and pushed his lips against hers. Immediately his tongue entered her already open mouth and he balanced himself with one hand on the ground. His other hand went to the back of her head to hold her in place.

After a few seconds, Sakura recovered from her shock and tried to get away, but alas, Sasuke's hand just pushed her in more. She then used both her hands to push his balancing arm away. That made him fall back, but unfortunately, he pulled the cross girl down with him. Sakura looked down at him angrily, which in his opinion made her look even cuter.

"You should've just told me you wanted to get on top," He teased in a low, husky voice that he only used with her.

Sakura turned bright red, both from embarrassment and fury, and sat up right, followed by a slyly smirking Uchiha. She glared at the arrogant teen sitting next to her, who in turn only smirked back.

"Uchiha Sasuke you egotistical jerk! You are so infuriating! Now I know how Naruto feels!"

Sasuke leaned closer to her face until he was a few inches away and used his low seducing voice once again.

"…but that doesn't stop you from being hot for me," He was smirking even wider now, recalling the event at Suna.

Sakura's face turned even more crimson, if that was possible. So red infact, she thought she must've looked like a cherry, or a tomato, or a cherry tomato, or a strawberry, or maybe even a chematoberry, if that existed. Point was, her whole face was scarlet.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before looking at her smug boyfriend.

"You know what? I liked it better when you barely talked at all."

"Right."

She glared at the raven-haired young man but all of a sudden put on a smug smile like the Uchiha had. Said teen raised an eyebrow at her sudden change of mood.

"Think what you want, but who's got a picture of this morning's lit-tle incident?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and then narrowed at her, his mood also taking on a dramatic change. He was, after all, a human being.

"Sakura, get rid of that dammed picture."

"No can do Uchiha-san. That's perfect blackmail material."

"Sakura. Get. Rid. Of. It."

"Is that an order Uchiha-san?"

"Sa-ku-ra."

"Sa-su-ke."

"Dammit! What'll it take for you to get rid of it?"

"Not-a-thing. That shot is priceless."

Sasuke did a kind of frustrated/annoyed animalistic sort of growl/grunt that actually sounded quite disturbing. Now, it was Sakura's turn to smirk.

"Ha, who's in control now?"

He made that sound again.

"…..you are so annoying."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Bad idea. Sasuke immediately lunged at her and seized her poor tongue in his mouth, with more french-kissing and beyond planned in his horny little mind. They both fell back down, this time with him on top, and started another one-sided make-out session. Sakura still didn't kiss him back, but wasn't struggling either. She was just having her revenge.

'_Note to self: No sticking out tongue in front of horny boyfriend'_

Sasuke pulled away and looked down at the non-responding young woman below him. She smiled up at him innocently. He frowned at her stubbornness.

"You just don't give up."

"Of course not."

"Fine, then. I'm…sorry."

"Gasp! The Uchiha Sasuke? Apologizing? Orochimaru's not gay!"

"Sakura."

She just giggled and raised her head up to kiss him lightly, which he returned eagerly. She pulled back and put her finger on his lips.

"You're forgiven."

As soon as she withdrew her finger, he dived for her mouth to yet again start another make-out session, this time with her responding. Lips locked, tongues swirled, moans and groans were bit back, and deep breaths were taken. After about ten minutes, Sakura pulled back.

"I'm still not getting rid of that picture."

Sasuke made that sound again.

-------

Hinata slowly parted her eyes as she felt herself moving. She lifted her head up only to get a face full of long, dark brown hair. As she took in her surroundings, she was shocked to find herself being carried on the back of her overprotective cousin Neji, walking through a path in the woods that led to a training area.

"N-ne-Neji-n-nii-san?"

He abruptly stopped moving and let her down on the pavement, while she still had a look of confusion on her face. He just ignored her confusion and signaled her to keep moving.

She stood glued to the spot for a minute until she gradually started to follow him. She gathered up all her courage and walked to stand in front of her tall cousin.

"N-Neji-niisan, wh-what h-happened? Wh-whe," She gulped. "Where's Na-Naruto-kun?"

At this, she looked directly at him with a determined and anxious face. Neji frowned at his cousin's obvious concern for the dobe.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill him." He speaks!

The shy Hyuuga released a relieved sigh but turned back to him.

"Th-then, wh-what did you d-do?"

-------

Uchiha Sasuke was currently very occupied in pinning down the object of his affections and desire, a.k.a. Haruno Sakura, to the grass-covered ground in a rather intimate position. They shared a number of deep, passionate kisses. The occurrence at Sunagakure (Sand Village) had led them to getting quite…er…close with each other…when given the chance. But…what exactly happened at Suna after Kakashi left with Naruto? No one will ever know…at least not in this chapter. Anyways, back to the currently-making-out couple.

His arms were wrapped tightly around her small frame underneath her white tank top. One was on her flat stomach and the other was on her back. Both slowly moved in large circles against the soft flesh that was his cherry blossom's skin. Their legs were tangled together and their cloth-covered genitals were lined up, allowing Sasuke to make himself home in between her legs.

That act made Sakura gasp and unintentionally give the Uchiha more access to her mouth. Her own arms were already enfolded securely around his neck, their lips deeply linked together in multiple make-outs, and their tongues clashed and swirled around each others'.

They broke apart to catch their breaths, and stared at one another other. Sakura's short pink hair was scattered all over the grass around her head, her lips swelled and parted for deep breathes, and her eyes were slightly lidded, staring right into her lover's bottomless black ones. As he looked down at her beautifully flushed face, he couldn't help but let his features soften and allow a rare genuine smile to escape. The kunoichi under him just sent a gentle smile back and let him kiss her again--a sweet, loving kiss.

Sasuke then moved his lips over to her jaw, and delivered light butterfly kisses along her jaw line. His kisses became wet and solid as he went lower down to her throat, then back up. When he reached the base of her neck, he started sucking and nibbling the tender skin. Several red marks were left on her neck as his trail to her collarbone, where he started sucking and biting harder. Sakura just moaned slightly and tightened her grip on his neck as he continued to nibble her skin and made it down to her chest.

Meanwhile, inside of Sakura's shirt…one of Sasuke's hands started fingering the back strap of her bra while the other moved down to her petite belly and then up to cup her fabric-covered right breast. He gave it a firm squeeze and once again made her give off a light moan. She moaned once again when his index finger started circling the hardening nipple, and again when he pinched it. He then took her lips in his own once again, coaxing her tongue into another battle. Her arms let go of his neck and she directed her hands under his black vest. Her fingers slowly crawled up his bare abs in a wave-like motion, making him give off a small grunt at the contact. It's pretty obvious where they were heading…that is if something--or someone--didn't stop them…

A loud, piercing scream erupted through the air and they instantly broke apart in surprise and quickly stood up. That scream _sure_ sounded familiar. They both looked to the sky, then at each other, speaking at the same time.

"Naruto."

-------

The Hyuuga Prodigy continued walking and glanced at Hinata from over his shoulder.

"Nothing, really. Just sent him flying somewhere."

He kept on walking down the path as if it was no big deal. Hinata sweat-dropped at his nonchalant behaviour and quickly caught up to him, still worried about a certain blonde she was crushing on.

-------

The Uchiha and the Blossom both looked to the sky. They saw a shiny object flying down at an enormous speed. Upon closer inspection, Sakura saw that it was orange and black, with a tint of yellow…and it was heading straight for them! She took three steps to the right, away from Sasuke, the landing target. Said teen only gave her a questioning stare. He looked back up at the sky and his eyes widened in realization, but by then, it was far too late.

"HOLY CRAP!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The screaming object turned out to be Naruto--gasp! He landed straight on poor Sasuke as he was turning around and they both landed on the ground with a loud and painful 'thump'. Sakura burst out laughing and quickly took out her handy-dandy camera. With a quick flash, she got a perfect picture of the scene before her. This time on the screen, Naruto could be seen rubbing his head with a dizzy expression, sitting Indian-style on the back of an equally dizzy Uchiha, who had his arms and legs stretched out on the ground. She smirked evilly before putting the tiny digital camera away in her kunai pouch and walking over to the woozy pair.

Naruto recovered and smiled when he saw his friend/teammate, but then frowned at her, as if his memory just came back.

"Sakura-chan! You and the teme ditched me at Ichiraku!"

Something growled under him and shoved him off from where he was sitting.

"Who're you calling teme, dobe?" Sasuke sat up and glared at him.

"You! This is all your fault!" Naruto glared right back.

"I didn't do anything."

"Yeah you did! On purpose too!"

Once again, a glaring contest started between the two.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"TEME!"

Everything went quiet. Then…

"Dobe."

"That's it! I'm gonna rip your frickin teme-throat out!"

Before Sasuke could retort back, Sakura stepped in and smacked both of them upside the head. Instinctively, they both snapped their hands to the back of their heads and looked at her. She glared at them intently and both immediately bit back their words. She shook her head at their child-like behavior and turned to Naruto.

"What happened to you?"

He sighed.

"I hugged Hinata-chan 'cuz she said she'd pay for my ramen but then she fainted! Then-----"

"Let me guess. Hyuuga came and sent you flying." Sasuke snickered at the predictable blonde.

"Shut up, jackass!"

"Make me, dumbass."

They couldn't see it because her hitai-ite covered it, but a vein was throbbing on Sakura's forehead. She then spoke in a threatening voice.

"Naruto. Sasuke."

They both stopped their verbal battle and slowly turned to her.

"Will. You. Both. Please. SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Everything went quiet again. Naruto cleared his throat.

"So…anyone wanna' spar?"

Sakura calmed down and nodded.

"'Kay, Sakura-chan. "

Both the participants put some distance between them.

"Maybe I should've checked if Hinata-chan's okay…" Naruto thought out loud.

Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned his back against the tree. He then sharply turned his head to the side and glared at the path in the woods that lead in and out of the clearing. Sakura and Naruto stared that way also.

"You won't have to. She's coming right to you."

As Sasuke said this, two figures walked out of the woods and into the clearing. One was frowning and the other was blushing bright red. Both of them walked towards the members of Team Seven. Neji glanced at each of them. The Uchiha was glaring at him; he glared right back. The dobe frowned at him and grinned at Hinata, who flushed like crazy and made a small smile back. Sakura smiled brilliantly at both of them, looking as striking as ever.

"Ohayo, Neji-san, Hinata-chan." She greeted them when they were near another tree, approximately three meters away from Sasuke's.

"Good to see you Sakura-san."

Neji nodded at the pink-haired girl and resumed to glaring at the Uchiha. From behind him, Hinata timidly stepped out and quietly greeted her back.

"O-ohayo, s-Sakura-chan."

She noticed Naruto was looking at her and blushed even harder. The fox-boy walked up to her.

"Hinata-chan, are you all right?"

She looked down to hide her chematoberry-red face and nodded a couple times.

"Why d'you faint today?"

His voice was full of genuine concern mixed with curiosity. She bravely looked up at him and smiled softly.

"I-I'm a-all r-right. I-it's r-really n-nothing."

He frowned but left the subject for now since he and Sakura were about to fight. He walked back to his spot and got in a fighting stance. Sakura started it by jumping up and throwing multiple shuriken at him. He blocked them all with a kunai and dodged the kick that she send him and instead tried to kick her when her back was turned. She poofed and turned into a log and appeared right behind him with another kick. This time, Naruto turned into a log and appeared behind her. She blocked his punch and he blocked hers.

"Stop fooling around."

"You got it."

They then both disappeared. They continuously reappeared and disappeared at different places in an incredible speed, each time with both engaged in various taijutsu moves, and each time getting faster and faster. It was really hard to even see them. The only proof they were yet still here was the occasional blur of orange and pink here and there. Sasuke had his Sharingan on and the Hyuugas had their Byakugan on. Suddenly, Naruto and Sakura appeared in front of them. Sakura was in a handstand and was whirling her legs towards Naruto's face. He caught her ankle and they disappeared again. They re-emerged a few meters away. This time Sakura's right arm was extended but caught by Naruto and his left arm was extended but caught by her. And both of their right knees were forcefully met. Sakura then jumped up and threw kunais at him. He dodged them easily but then realized her plan, and jumped just as all the kunais touched the ground and exploded. This was getting intense. Sakura did some hand symbols while still in the air and Sasuke immediately recognized them.

"**Katon: Karyu Endan no Jutsu **!" (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)

Sakura took a deep breath, circled her hand around her lips, and her mouth became a flame-thrower directed right at the blonde below her. He quickly used substitution and then had to dodge the fire that followed him as she blew it towards wherever he went. Sasuke smirked.

'_She should do that more often.'_

He was referring to the fact that she looked truly lovely when executing one of the attacks _he_ was known for. He then watched Naruto make his own hand symbols.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" (Shadow Clone Jutsu)

Seven more Narutos appeared and ran towards their opponent head on. Sakura used Dragon Flame Jutsu once again to burn them all. She then noticed there were only seven Narutos in front of her. She gasped and quickly turned around to block a kick aimed at her stomach.

The three bystanders watched the battle attentively. The Uchiha prodigy carefully surveyed their movements. He had to admit, the two opponents had gotten a lot stronger then he remembered. Sure, they helped him eliminate Orochimaru, but he was concentrating on fighting back then, not checking out how strong his team-mates had gotten. He was impressed by their speed, but mostly surprised that Sakura had gotten this good with taijutsu. The frail little flower he had left when he went to the Snake-Sannin had grown over the years and was now fully bloomed. He secretly smiled at her. That is until he noticed he wasn't the only one examining the pink-haired kunoichi.

-------

White-eyes followed the kunoichi's movements with interest. The way she swiftly moved her slender arms and legs before striking at her target appealed to him somehow. The way she gracefully soared up in the air made her look as if she were flying. Anyone could just jump high, but the way she did it was like she had invisible wings attached to her back.

All of a sudden, Neji felt a hole burning through his head. He turned to his right and was met with the _shocking_ sight of the Uchiha glaring at him. But not just a glare, a lethal, deadly glower, that hurled knives, arrows, axes, kunais, shuriken, senbons, katanas, pitchforks, laser-guns, lightsabers, maces, and all kinds of weapons, right at him. The teme probably caught him looking at his girlfriend.

' _Possessive fool.'_

He smirked and turned back to watching Sakura…er…the battle.

He saw her punch the earth, and with her inhumane strength, the ground shook violently before cracking under the force and breaking apart for quite a distance. Naruto jumped up when she pummelled the ground with her fist, but when he landed back down to what he thought would be a safe distance, the earth under him broke apart and even with his reflexes, he stumbled to get away.

Sakura sneaked behind him during his stumble and kicked his back, hard, right onto the ground near the woods. She raced to him and drew her arm back to punch his face. He avoided it, and instead, her fist slammed against a tree and instantly snapped it in half. He appeared next to her and gave her multiple punches aimed at her jaw that she blocked with an arm. But his last punch held even more power and it sent her airborne. He then emerged above her, linked his hands together, drew back his arms, and came forth to strike her forcefully on her upper back. That sent her crashing back down to earth with a very loud thud where she met the ground. She immediately got back on her feet and vanished.

Naruto looked to his left, his right, his back, and his front. He couldn't sense her chakra; she was masking it really well. She then abruptly materialized in front of him, running head on with a kunai in her hand. He took a few steps back and got ready to fight back but she just as suddenly disappeared again. He then felt the tree roots under his feet moving. He tried to jump out of the way but the roots grabbed both his ankles and dragged him across the earth floor closer to the tree. He tried cutting the roots with his kunai, but they then trapped his wrists also. He was flipped right side up and smashed into the tree where a great number of thick branches ensnared every bit of him. He couldn't move any of his body parts, not even his fingers. Over his right shoulder, Sakura's upper body materialized from within the tree, a kunai grasped in her right hand. She pressed the weapon against his neck, visibly upset.

"Stop holding back! It's not fair to me!"

"I can't help it Sakura-chan!"

She huffed and he smiled.

-------

Sasuke Uchiha smirked at the blonde boy for losing so easily. He knew Naruto held back more than what was necessary in a sparring match. He just couldn't seriously fight someone whom he loved like a sister. Sasuke was surprised though; by the way Sakura used her chakra to manipulate that tree and her body cells to make her go through it. That was unexpected, but she all ways did have perfect chakra control, since they were mere genin.

The two said shinobi left the battle scene and poofed in front of him and the other viewers. Naruto walked over to a still red Hinata.

"Ne, Hinata-chan? Are going to train too?"

"N-no."

"Okay then. Wanna go eat ramen with me?"

Her whole face turned scarlet but on the inside, she was bursting with joy. Her cousin glared at him but he ignored it.

"O-o-k-kay."

"Naruto, didn't you just eat ramen before coming here?"

Sakura was exasperated by his ramen-dominated appetite.

"Yeah, but all that fighting made me hungry again! And I know that Hinata-chan won't abandon me like some other people I know. C'mon, Hinata-chan!"

"Wait."

He faced with Neji a determined look.

"Anything happens , and there's gonna' be a repeat of this morning."

Naruto nodded and grabbed Hinata's hand, then both of them poofed out of there to probably poof again at Ichiraku.

Sakura sighed and turned to the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Neji-san?"

He switched his attention to her and made an attempt at a small smile. He succeeded. Hurray for the Hyuuga prodigy!

"No need to be so formal, Sakura-san."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"You're being formal too, you know."

"So I am…Sakura."

She smiled.

"So…Neji. Are you going to train?"

"Why? Do you wish to train with me?"

She was about to answer 'yes' but Sasuke pushed in front of her and cut her off.

"Let's fight, Hyuuga."

If looks could kill, Neji would be smashed to the ground in a bloody heap with thousands of knives, arrows, axes, kunais, shuriken, senbons, katanas, pitchforks, laser-holes, lightsaber-burns, mace marks, and all other kinds of weapons, imbedded all over his body, and then burned to a crisp by a fire style jutsu. But unfortunately for Sasuke, looks can't kill, and the Hyuuga was standing there, still among the living, regrettably two inches taller, right smack dab in front of him. And he was smirking too.

'_The bastard.'_

"Fine, Uchiha. If you really want to embarrass yourself."

There was a growl from Sasuke.

"The only one I'll be embarrassing'll be you."

They then both proceeded to glower at each other and get in a fighting stance. Sakura sweat-dropped and sighed. It was still a long, long ways away until sunset.

'_It's gonna be a long day.' _

-------

**A/N: That one scene was soo embarassing to type...kyaaa...Review plz, it inspires me to be less lazy! **


	3. Outlaws? Missing nin? Cool!

**A/N: Sooooo...Sasu and Saku pic on profile...yada yada...Let's start the chapter!**

* * *

_**Previously on Adolescence:**_

_(Sasuke and Neji) then both proceeded to glower at each other and get in a fighting stance. Sakura sweat-dropped and sighed. It was still a long, long ways away until sunset._

_'It's gonna be a long day.'_

**Chapter 3: Outlaws? Missing-nin? Cool!**

It was approximately twenty-seven minutes until sunset. Team Seven could be found where they normally were found, along with two Hyuugas and Bugboy. Our favourite blonde knuckleheaded ninja was standing next to Hinata, attempting a conversation. Hearing a growl, they both turned to look sideways across the bridge, and sweat-dropped.

Neji, who was covered in scratches, bruises, cuts, burns, and red hole-imprints that looked suspiciously like mace-marks, stood with his back leaning against the railing, arms crossed. He was glaring at the also bruised and beaten up Uchiha across from him, who had his hands in his pockets and a nonchalant look that Neji knew was made to mock him. He activated his Byakugan to add intensity. Sasuke just gave him a bored look, but we all know he was smirking on the inside.

'_After all, __**I**__ won.'_

With that thought, his internal smirk became external as he quirked a brow, secretly--or not so secretly-- scorning the loser of the sparring match. Neji narrowed his eyes, getting the message and then proceeded to fry a deeper hole through the inflated head of Sasu-chan, the great. Sasuke's expression shifted to blank once again, muttering something under his breath.

The person next to him heard what he said and snorted.

'_He calls __**Neji**__ a sore loser? Tch. Compared to how he himself takes a loss, Neji smiles while embracing the winner to congratulate him on discovering his inner youth and then announces his own loss to the world in a superman pose.'_

Sakura partly covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle a laugh when imagining that scenario, but a few giggles escaped anyways. She stopped and put her hand down when Sasuke raised his head to her; she was currently seated on the railing next to him.

He raised the same eyebrow at her while she rolled her eyes and glanced at Neji. He had stopped glaring and had his eyes turned to her. She looked to her side; Hinata, Naruto, and the ever-silent Shino, who was across from the latter, were looking at her as well.

"What? I was just imagining Neji doing a superman pose…"

There were several different reactions. Naruto burst out laughing. Hinata smiled, secretly envisioning the scene. Shino just stayed quiet, but he was smirking behind that high collar. Sasuke gave her an emo look and smirked at the victim. Said victim gave Sakura a what-the-hell look with a slight glare.

"I don't. Even. Want. To know."

A moment later, a quiet giggle left Hinata's lips but it wasn't unheard. Naruto started laughing again as well, followed by giggling from Sakura, _mocking_ silence from Shino, a roll of eyes from Sasuke, and a twitch of the eyebrow from Neji.

Only five minutes had passed.

-------

Sakura started playing with Sasuke's hair. She moved over him so his head was right under her chin. Sasuke didn't stop her since it felt kinda good, but frowned in order to show his 'annoyance', him being Uchiha Sasuke and all. Shino held up his index finger and a mosquito landed on it. Naruto gave him a weird look. Hinata was already used to this. Neji observed Sakura play with Sasuke's hair and closed his eyes. Three more minutes had passed.

-------

A bug landed on Naruto and he swatted it away. Two bugs landed on him and he once again swatted them away. Three bugs landed, he swatted. Four bugs landed, he swatted. Annoyed, he looked suspiciously at Shino, who was still in the mosquito-on-his-finger pose. Hinata looked from one to the other. Two minutes passed.

-------

About five dozen bugs buzzed around Naruto and he ran back and forth across the bridge to get away from them. Sakura played with Sasuke's hair. Sasuke slept with his eyes open. Neji hadn't moved. Hinata gave the blonde a worried glance and turned to give Shino an if-you're-doing-this-please-stop look. He lowered his finger a little. Another two minutes passed.

-------

Naruto kept running around and shouting curses directed at either the bugs or Shino, or both. Most probably both. Shino's mosquito moved up to his forehead. Sakura got an elastic band and tied small parts of Sasuke's hair together. He looked so funny, she decided to once again capture the moment with her Saku-cam. Sasuke kept staring at nothing. Neji opened his eyes and closed them again. Hinata stood up to Shino with furrowed brows and a frown. Three minutes.

-------

Sasuke snapped back to reality and looked around. Sakura was still playing with his hair.

'_Aah.'_

Hyuuga was acting all 'look-at-me-I'm-so-cool-I-can-sleep-standing-up-and-not-move-at- all' again.

'_Hn.'_

The dobe was being chased by insects.

'_Hn.'_

Bugboy had a mosquito on his forehead.

'_Weird, but Hn.'_

The female Hyuuga was glaring at Bugboy.

'_Hn--wait. She can glare?'_

He looked back at Naruto and shrugged.

One minute and fifty-three seconds.

-------

The next time Naruto ran by Sasuke, said person grabbed his arm and pulled him over the railing, down into the water. All the pests instantly flew away, leaving only their former target's head bobbing up and down in the water.

(T.T) "Thanks a lot, teme."

(T.T) "Baka."

Three and a half minutes.

-------

"Argh!" Sakura cried out in frustration. She looked up and glared at the sun, although had to squint her eyes to do it.

"Set you stupid sun! Set already! SET!" She banged her fists on the railing in order to show her frustration with the sun. The whole bridge shook with the impact. Everyone, excluding Shino, who just stared, sweat-dropped.

"Sakura, screaming at the sun won't make it set faster." Sasuke stated calmly.

"Besides, Kaka-sensei won't show up on time anyways!"

Naruto, who was soaked from head to toe, replied from beside Hinata, who kept glancing at Shino in order to make sure he wasn't planning anything. Sakura scowled at him.

"Thanks, Naruto. I feel a lot better."

"What? I'm just stating facts!"

Sakura just sighed and tried the patience thing again. Alas, it didn't last very long.

"SET DAMN IT!!!!"

Well that whole scene took up four more minutes and twelve seconds.

(It's been twenty-four minutes and thirty-five seconds so far.)

-------

The sun was about to set any minute now. Everyone on the bridge was watching intently. Sakura rested her chin on Sasuke's head and had her arms loosely wrapped around his neck. Sasuke was leaning back into the embrace all the way. If he turned his head, his cheek would touch her neck.

"I can't believe I was mad at the sun a few minutes ago. Now I wish it would set slower…" Sakura's voice was muffled by Sasuke's hair but he still heard and shook his head.

"…and you call me immature."

She lightly smacked his head and continued gazing. They all watched until the sun completely set.

"That was pretty."

"Yeah—WAAAH!" A certain silver-haired jounin with a certain orange book in his hand stood between Naruto and Sakura.

"Where the fish-lips did you come from?!" Sakura was quite surprised by her sensei's uber-sneaky ninja-ness.

"Well see, when a mommy Hatake and a daddy Hatake consuma—"

"AGH! That's not what she meant!" And Naruto was quite irritated by his sensei's uber-sneaky smartass-ness.

"Shut up." Sasuke and Neji glared at each other, after saying the same thing at the same time.

"What's our mission, Hatake-san?" Hinata asked, with that quiet voice of hers.

"Ahh, right. Though before that, I have a question of my own."

Everyone stared intently, awaiting a critical query. Kakashi looked at Sasuke.

"Why does Sasuke have 'lolita' hair?"

Sakura burst out laughing instantly followed by Naruto. The rest of them looked over and also chuckled, or in Neji and Shino's case, smirked. True indeed, Sasuke's usual chicken-butt hair was tied up on many parts of his head , like a cute little girl. His face though, did not match his hair at all. It was the face of a demon. A very angry demon. He 'Sasu-roared' and pulled all of them out at once, almost ripping his hair out in the process.

"Shut. Up." He Sasu-glared at Kakashi, then Sakura, then Naruto, then each individual person, and then back at Kakashi. He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Just. Give. Us. Our. Damn. Mission."

Naruto raised his hand.

"Ne, sensei? Why are you giving it to us instead of Tsunade-baa-chan?"

"Ah...the Hokage's a bit...busy...so..."

"She's drunk isn't she?" Sakura knew her sensei quite well.

Kakashi nodded nonetheless.

"Out like a light. So do you guys want to know your mission?"

They all nodded.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Just spit it out already!" Uber-sneaky silliness annoys our dear blonde knucklehead.

"Okay...the mission is to..."

DUN! DUN! DUN!

-------

Sakura walked the lone road to the Konoha Gates, planning to arrive early. As she approached the gates, she could distinguish a solitary figure leaning against the wall, his face cast in shadow. At first, the figure seemed like Sasuke, but she soon realized that it was in fact, not. She smiled at him when they locked eyes, his glowing against the darkness.

"Hey, Neji."

He nodded once.

"Sakura."

She leaned against the wall right next to him, staying silent. It was currently eight-forty-two in the evening, and the team was supposed to arrive at nine-o-clock. They were heading for the Village Hidden in the Sand, as part of their mission.

_**Flashback**_

"_Okay, the mission is too...become outlaws!" _

_Everyone stared. Hard._

_Kakashi sweat-dropped._

"_Uh, not literally! You'll be in disguise!"_

_Everyone stared. Harder._

"_Well, maybe I should start from the beginning. You see...lately a band of high-ranking missing-nin have formed a union under Komatari Masumane, an S-class missing-nin from--"_

"_Kaka-sensei!"_

"_What, Naruto?"_

"_If this Komatari is an S-class missing-nin, how come we've never heard of him from the Village Hidden in the----AAAIIIIIII!!!!" _

_Naruto's face was hit with a sandal. A ninja sandal. It slowly fell from his face, revealing a red print. Both his eyebrows started twitching._

"_Where the _hell_ did that come from?!?!"_

_He recovered and jumped up on the railing, angry. _

"_Someone out there want a piece of me?! Well, COME AND GET IT!" _

_This time everyone stared at Sasuke, who's right foot was suspiciously lacking a sandal . A _ninja _sandal. He coughed. _

"_I'm starting an investigation on this! Did you see who, Sas-ke-teme?"_

"_Hn..." Sasuke coughed a few times, and looked away. Kakashi clapped his hands together to gain their attention back._

"_Ahem. Anyways, the _reason,_ is that this guy's been pretty quiet until now, so the— "_

"_Achoo!" Hinata sure can sneeze loud._

"—_Village had thought he had died. Now, he and his organization, the Shirogami, keep on robbing important items and documents from the Hidden Villages, mostly through killing ninja on missions. The latest was a Sand ninja, delivering an important artifact to the Kazekage."_

"_So, what does that have to do with Konoha ninja?"_

_Sakura slapped Naruto upside the head._

"_Idiot! It means that our village is also bound to be targeted by them. Besides, wouldn't you want to help the other villages, by getting rid of these 'bandits'?"_

_Naruto rubbed his head and pouted._

"_I get it...but you didn't have to hit me!"_

_Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. Neji smirked at her--not unnoticed by the Uchiha--and turned to Kakashi._

"_Even so, Hatake-san, what is our involvement? Search and destroy?"  
Kakashi scratched his head._

"_Not exactly. You guys are gonna have to steal a secret scroll from the Sand Village, since they seem to be the recent target. This is where you become outlaws. If you steal that scroll, Shirogami is sure to come after you. You guys will pretend to be missing-nin from Konoha and somehow join their organization, the scroll will be an offering. You will spy on them, their tactics, strategies, skills and techniques, their numbers. Just get back as much info as you can to us. That's where Shino's bugs come in handy!"_

_He smiled under his mask. Everyone waited patiently for him to continue._

"_Sounds like fun, huh? The villages will also put up wanted posters of you everywhere, to spread your 'bad' reputation. When you eventually go to their main headquarters and meet Komatari Masumane, we and the other villages will send out more teams to your location and together, you will all take down the headquarters and Komatari. Understood? Any questions?" _

"_Who's leader?" Neji and Sasuke had another glare-down. _

"_Neji is. He's more mature." Point one for the Hyuuga! Sasuke grunted, aggravated. It was Neji's turn to put on a calm-but-mocking facade._

"_Are only Leaf-ninja_ _doing this mission? I mean, the other villages have also been attacked...so..." Sakura found it odd that _only_ Konoha was assigned this mission._

"_Well, _that's_ why. The other villages have already lost people and vital objects. Konoha is the only village that have not been targeted yet, and Suna just recently got targeted, so the other villages requested us to do it."_

"_So...does that mean that Sand ninja gonna join us?" Naruto reeeaaally didn't want more temes to join their team. Sasuke reeeaaallly didn't want more idiots on the team. Neji reeeaaally didn't want more temes _and_ idiots on the team._

"_No."_

_They mentally breathed a sigh of relief._

"_But their Kazekage might."_

_**End of flashback**_

Sakura sighed. It really had been a long day. And now, they were heading out at night. No waiting until morning. No sleep. Apparently, they had to travel to Suna in the dark, so as to make it seem like they were actually running away...or something...Damn Kakashi. Damn those stupid missing-nin. Damn the other villages for causing only Leaf ninja to lack sleep. Why, oh _why_, did she get up so goddamn early today?! Oh that's right...Damn Kakashi. She wants to sleep dammit! She shook her head.

'_Gotta stop swearing to myself...'_

The person next to her watched her facial expressions with amusement.

"Cursing to yourself?"

Sakura turned to him, stunned. This was the first THE Hyuuga Neji had actually started a conversation. On his own. With her, nonetheless. She couldn't help but just gape at him. He smirked.

"Am I _that_ pleasant to look at?"

She snapped out of it and smiled.

"Well, yeah…but I was more surprised that you were the first one to talk…"

He leaned in.

"Really?"

She leaned away, unconsciously.

"Yeah…I mean you don't really talk…"

He quirked an eyebrow.

"I know. But what I'm pondering on…"

He leaned in a bit more.

"…is the fact that you think I'm good-looking."

Sakura's eyes widened, realizing her little slip. Her cheeks stained with red, making a pretty blush at her embarrassment. She frowned and looked away, huffing.

"You prodigies are all the same! Condescending assholes!"

Neji leaned back to his original stance, entertained by her embarrassment. He looked down to her pink head--a head and neck shorter than himself--and saw her pouting angrily.

'_Cute.'_

He then felt a sudden breeze, with leaves blowing in swirls, and he frowned. Hard. Way to ruin a good mood...the Uchiha had arrived.

"Ah." What kinda greeting is that? Sasuke walked over to stand in front of Sakura, ignoring Neji. She smiled up at him, forgetting her previous remark about prodigies and their asshole-ness. Sasuke smirked, and slid an arm around her waist. It made Neji want to gag on the spot, and _the_ Hyuuga Neji _never _gags. Sasuke chose that moment to look at him--correction--glare at him. But of course.

"Hyuuga."

"Uchiha."

"Stop flirting with her. She's taken."

Neji smirked.

"I believe _Sakura_," He stretched the word, _"…_said I'm pleasant to look at."

Sasuke growled. He wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his girly face.

"Ano…" Sakura didn't know what to say, the atmosphere was too intense! A light bulb appeared, and she straightened up, pointing an accused finger at the two.

"How the _hell_ did you two heal so damn quickly?!"

They gave her a 'weird' look.

"Why wouldn't I?" "Of course I did."

The two prodigies once again glowered at each other, after answering--or in Sasuke's case 'questioning'--at the same time. Sakura sweat dropped, _everything_ was uptight with these two.

"SAAAKUUURRRRAAAA-CCHHYYYAAANN!!!" Naruto waved enthusiastically at her from down the road. Hinata was walking next to him, timidly waving. This was one of the rare moments where Sakura was thoroughly relived that Naruto was such a loudmouth.

She moved away and happily waved back.

"What took you so long, baka?!"

He grinned sheepishly as he got closer, and glanced at Hinata, who blushed. Sakura's mouth formed an 'O' and she also grinned. They both high-fived each other in their silent understanding, looking like idiots as they missed the first two times. Hinata giggled as she high-fived Sakura and then Naruto, when they put their hands up for one. Naruto turned around to high-five Sasuke, caught up in the mood, but the teme's don't-even-think-about-it glare froze his arm in place and left him hanging. _So_ not cool.

Hinata looked around. Someone was still missing…

"Whe-where's sh-Shino?"

"I'm right here."

They all turned around. Shino came out of a dark, shadowed corner. Creeeeppy.

Everyone's eyes widened--except for Hinata's--but Neji's and Sakura's eyes widened for a different reason.

"Ha-how long have you been there?"

Sakura asked and Neji also wanted to know.

Shino's glasses seemed to gleam in the corner, as if to make up for their owner's lack of expression, a gleam that Neji and Sakura did not like.

"Long enough..…"

They gulped. He's gleam got…er…gleamier?

"…So then, shall we leave?"

They gave him one last look, before Sasuke and Naruto slowly opened the giant gates--closed to make their lives harder. Neji walked out first, giving off an I-am-Leader-therefore-I-must-go-first-and-you-must-follow aura. Sasuke was already annoyed, but he walked out second, next to Sakura. Shino, Hinata, and Naruto followed them out. Outside the proximity of the gates, Neji stopped and removed his headband, the rest of his team also doing so. They all got a kunai out and at the same precise time, made a slash across the Konoha Leaf symbol. For Sasuke, this was the second time getting his hitai-ite slashed. He stared at it for a while, then slowly put it back on. Sakura and Naruto looked at him with concern, and the rest of the team also looked at him. He punched Naruto in the arm, making the boy grin and punch him back.

"Let's get going."

Neji started walking again. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata, and Shino, all walked after him, away from Konoha and into the unknown darkness, mentally preparing themselves for the long task at hand; living the dangerous lives of missing-nin.

-------

**A/N: Huzzah! I finally updated! And I somehow managed to change this story from comedy to adventure! Don't know how that happened…but oh well! REVIEW!! And joy will come to you all in the form of cyber-cookies! BWAAH!**


End file.
